Report from Mens Seniors Team Captain Matthew Cohen;
As the team assembled at a sun-baked Berkhamsted GC, confidence was high following two resounding victories over Bedfordshire and BB & O.
A win over Middlesex would all but secure the league title and with a very strong line-up, predictions were worryingly positive, but we couldn’t afford to be complacent.
Each team member had to go out and do their job – and focus on winning their match!
Wishing to stamp our authority on the match before it started, the Captain handed our team sheet to the Middlesex Captain, and as he circulated it to his team, you could hear sighs of despondency, “Oh no, I’ve got Steve Standing, he’s just been selected to play for England” and “Oh well, I’ve got Simon Kay, their County Champion, this shouldn’t last long” and “David Lang! He just made the last 16 of the English and is a birdie machine!”
As the quivering wrecks lined up on the first tee for what we hoped would be their slow painful execution, our England player, Steve, stretched and flexed his athletic frame, and his opponent wilted, nearly fainting on the spot. That’s one up!
Then followed more big guns with David Lang, John Ambridge, Nick Leconte and Paul Nancarrow, all multiple time, Open tournament winners, former England players and County Champions – it was relentless. They smashed and grabbed the first five matches all winning on the 16th hole.
One more point needed, and it was Peter York, one of our Berkhamsted specialists, who secured the win with a gritty 4 & 2 victory.
Then it was a case of whether we could win by a significant margin, to make our final match against Essex less pressurised.
Unfortunately, Phil Embleton came up against a former champion bare-knuckle fighter, “Gypsy” Joe Smith, an accomplished golfer, with his son on his bag, and to say Phil was intimidated would be an understatement. After the recent shenanigans at another Hertfordshire club, (which I shan’t elaborate on here), Phil felt that going easy on Joe was his safest option! He lost…… but has complete peace of mind!
Coming up the rear in the thunderstorm and showers were our newly crowned County Champion, Simon Kay, Doug Montgomery, in his rookie season and Paul Marshall, another Berkhamsted specialist, never beaten on his home turf. We were optimistic and rightly so, as two of them won, with Doug birdieing the 18th to halve his match.
The momentum of the juggernaut, ploughing through the Middlesex team, leaving carnage all over Berkhamsted, was plain to see.
This was a fantastic team performance, leaving us within touching distance of winning the league title.
We now need to go to Thorpe Hall to play Essex on 1st September, with the aim of beating them, to both win the title and become the new “Invincibles”.
Thanks go to Berkhamsted for their wonderful hosting and course set-up, and to the throngs of supporters, for creating an intimidating, partisan atmosphere to add to the opposition’s intimidation, whilst bolstering the confidence of our men. Thanks to all of you, especially to John Clark (Head Professional) for successfully coaxing Nick around the front nine and Nick O’Byrne (County President elect), it is much appreciated by all of us.
